Common Core Category

The study of music seems to have helped accelerate cognitive development, and particularly the auditory and speech and language-processing abilities, of a group of young children in Los Angeles. The students are taught using an approach based on El Sistema, developed in Venezuela. They receive free instruments and intensive, regular training from adult musicians. To […]

Using technology in the classroom is now the standard, but teachers and schools must decide which tools to use and how to implement them. Distinctive Schools‘ CICS West Belden is among the schools interviewed about technology in the classroom for a recent EdSurge article. In conjunction with LEAP Innovation, West Belden has been narrowing down tools […]

While graduation rates have been observed at an all time high minority students still lag behind. The U.S. is projected to become a majority-minority country by 2044. Latino students are the fastest growing student population, projected to account for 30% of all students by 2044. 86.6% is the average for white identified students, where as, […]

Some schools are really embracing data and analyzing available information on school operations. A School near Dallas suspended instrument rentals fees after noticing a drop in marching and concert bands, which caused band participation to jump. Collecting data in the classroom can give concrete evidence of which instructional strategies work. As a super independent, Patricia […]

Here’s an outside-the-box approach to teaching Common Core standards. Two teachers in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools have founded Hip Hop University, “an upbeat approach” designed to help at-risk students grasp Common Core concepts. The HHU team uses positive hip-hop culture as a motivator and helps students put lessons to lyrics. HHU is part of the Philip O. […]